PROVO, Utah - Freshman forward Greg Smith tallied a career-high 13 points, but a turnover plagued stretch late in the first half proved too much for Colorado State to overcome. The Rams fell, 91-47, in front of 20,155 fans at BYU's Marriott Center.

"I thought that the game started off fine," said Head Coach Tim Miles. "But after about 8 minutes, it wasn't fine. I think BYU is a special team, and they are not widely enough recognized for as good as they are. I think this might be one of the best teams that I've ever coached against."

Colorado State opened up the contest looking strong against the No. 18/17 Cougars and the Rams hung with the three-time defending MWC champions early in the game, staking to a 16-15 lead with 12:01 left in the first half.

A jumper by BYU freshman Tyler Haws gave the Cougars the lead for good, 17-16, and sparked an 18-4 BYU run between the 10:13 and 3:11 marks of the opening stanza, to put the Cougars in front, 33-20 with 3 minutes left in the half. Junior guard Adam Nigon answered with a pair of free-throws to pull to within 11, 33-22 with 2:11 left in the first half, but the Rams would not inch any closer throughout the remainder of the game, and the Cougars skated to the 91-47 victory.

BYU pulled away steadily throughout the second half, shooting a blistering 62.5 percent (20-for-32) from the field in the closing stanza. Overall, BYU hit 58.6 percent (34-for-58) from the field, compared with just 31.4 percent (16-for-51) for the Rams.

Smith, who led the Rams in scoring, tallied nine of his 13 points in the second half, connecting on 4-of-9 attempts from the floor and hitting 5-for-6 at the free-throw line.

BYU was led by junior guard Jimmer Fredette, who tallied a game-high 21 points. Also scoring in double-figures for the Cougars were senior Jonathan Tavernari (14 points) and Haws (10).

Junior forward Andy Ogide added seven points for the Rams, and pulled down a team-leading six rebounds. Freshman guard Dorian Green also chipped in with seven points, and added three rebounds and a team-leading two assists for the Rams, who had just five helpers on the day.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Rams, and pushed the Cougars (18-1, 3-0 MWC) ahead of CSU (11-6, 2-1 MWC) in the Mountain West Conference standings. BYU has now won 13 consecutive games since losing their only game of the season, 71-61, at Utah State on Dec. 2.

Colorado State will now look ahead to next Wednesday's matchup with UNLV at Moby Arena. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. between the Rams and the Runnin' Rebels, who host Utah late Saturday evening. CSU's matchup with UNLV will air live on The Mtn.